Ron Mason’s last game at Munn Ice Arena ended just the way he wanted - with a Spartan win.
The retiring MSU head coach guided the fifth-ranked Spartans to a 4-2 victory over Bowling Green in the first round of the CCHA Tournament in front of 5,896 fans Saturday night.
The game wasn’t even as close as its final score, as the Falcons tallied twice in the last four minutes. All the same, the win closed another chapter in Mason’s storied career. Never again will he lead the Spartans in a game at Munn, where he has coached the Spartans for 23 years.
“All I was thinking about was trying to win the game,” said Mason, who will resign after the season to become MSU’s next athletics director. “When you’re still involved in the season, the emotion comes more from preparation for next week. Closure, for me, came last week.”
Saturday’s win also concluded MSU’s best-of-three series against the Falcons - which the Spartans swept 2-0. They came back from a two-goal deficit to win the series opener 4-3 in overtime on Friday.
No. 2 seed MSU (26-7-5) will be one of the top two seeds when the tournament shifts to Joe Louis Arena in Detroit on March 15-17. Therefore, the Spartans will get a bye on the first day of games and play a yet-to-be-determined opponent on March 16.
In Saturday’s series-clinching win, MSU junior goaltender Ryan Miller made 22 saves for MSU and Tyler Masters stopped 30 shots for No. 11 seed Bowling Green (9-25-6).
From the opening face-off, the Spartans looked resigned to not let the Falcons dictate play as they did early Friday night. The Spartans only allowed Bowling Green to take six shots on goal, and none were very threatening.
Meanwhile, MSU scored the only goal of the period on junior right wing Steve Jackson’s fifth tally of the season. Masters bobbled a tough-angle shot by freshman center Lee Falardeau and dropped the puck into the crease. Jackson got his stick on the puck through a crowd and jammed home the goal 3:43 into the game.
Referee Mark Wilkins did not call any penalties in the first period, but the Falcons were faced with numerous punishments in the second. Bowling Green amassed 11 penalty minutes in the middle stanza, while MSU was whistle-free again.
Still, the Spartans could only manage one goal in the second - a power play tally by junior defenseman John-Michael Liles at 7:50. The Falcons were saddled with a 5-on-3 disadvantage for 1:07 and managed to kill off the first penalty, but Liles struck on the second.
He launched a long slap shot from the point that hit Falcon center Roger Leonard’s skate in front and went between Masters’ legs. The tally was Liles’ 13th of the season.
“My celebration was a bit lackluster,” said Liles, who was named a first-team All-CCHA performer earlier in the week. “I was kind of down on myself - I kept missing the net out there. But I finally got one off some guy’s skate.
“You know, you’ll take them however you can get them.”
While MSU failed on its other power play chances in the second - including a five-minute major penalty and game misconduct to Falcon right wing Scott Hewson - the Spartans held Bowling Green to just two shots in the period.
MSU finally broke the game open early in the third with a pair of goals scored 1:17 apart. A sprawling glove save by Miller started the flurry, and after the puck was cleared to Jackson at center ice, he was able to spring freshman center Jim Slater on a breakaway. Slater made a convincing fake on Masters and easily slid the puck between his legs for his 11th goal of the season at 5:17.
Two Falcon penalties followed right after Slater’s goal, and MSU found itself with a 5-on-3 power play for 1:47. Senior defenseman Andrew Hutchinson wasted little time, ripping a one-timer from above the left circle that made the game 4-0 at 6:34 of the third.
The Spartans finished 2-for-6 on the power play Saturday.
“It’s nice to get a goal like that, but most importantly, we got the job done tonight and we don’t have to play tomorrow, so we can rest,” Hutchinson said.
Bowling Green’s first goal came with 3:06 to play when Falcon defenseman Marc Barlow tossed a seemingly harmless wrist shot at Miller from 80 feet away. But, similarly to a goal at Ferris State last weekend, Miller misjudged the long shot and missed it.
Falcon defenseman Grady Moore banged home a rebound to Miller’s left with 49.4 seconds to play to finish off the scoring.
Injury update: Junior left wing Brian Maloney is apparently out for the rest of the season after cracking two ribs and lacerating his left kidney Friday, Mason said.
Maloney, who’s tied for second on MSU in points with 33, slammed awkwardly into the boards after missing a check attempt in Friday’s second period. He was taken to Sparrow Hospital and is expected to stay there until Monday or Tuesday.
Maloney has a career-high 17 goals this season. After Saturday’s win, the Spartan team sang the “Michigan State Fight Song” to him via speakerphone.
Freshman left wing Brock Radunske took Maloney’s spot on the top line and junior left wing Steve Clark, playing for the seventh time this season, was inserted onto fourth line.
In other injury news, junior defenseman Brad Fast was back in the lineup Saturday after bruising his right shoulder and leaving the game on Friday.
Junior forward Troy Ferguson, who sat out of Friday’s victory with the flu, also returned Saturday - centering the fourth line with Clark and redshirt freshman right wing Steve Swistak.
